Investment banker Kevin Covert is increasing staff at his company, Covert & Co, up to prepare for a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) bonanza in Silicon Valley. Move over social networking, move over ecommerce -- he reckons that the conditions are great for M&A -- "especially in new media".
If the recent, high-profile Techcrunch and Huffington Post deals are anything to go by, he may be right. Although these are only two high profile deals -- and to the same company, AOL.
Covert is no stranger to the Silicon Valley scene: Over the past ten years he's had a hand in many...

South Africa has just got its own version of Venmo, one of the US’s most successful payment platforms owned by PayPal that processes $25-billion in person-to-person payments annually.
The Slide app is founded by three young South Africans who recently returned from living in the US -- Irshad Kathrada, Terence Goldberg and Alon Stern. The three have developed the app to change the way South Africans pay each other.
Kathrada, worked for JP Morgan in Johannesburg, London and New York; Terence Goldberg, worked in Toronto and San Francisco; and Alon Stern moved to the US from South Africa on a Fulbright scholarship where he worked at...

From third world countries battling with proper organisational issues with regards to locating routes, to travelers unable to locate transport when commuting in new cities, to congestion, traffic jams and lack of service delivery, public transportation issues are problems that occur on a global scale.
Two entrepreneurs however believe that for the first time their company is offering developing nations a chance at a true end-to-end intelligent transport system (ITS).
Transport IT infrastructure specialists, WhereIsMyTransport gives transport providers a platform on which to run all their daily operations such as routing, scheduling, reporting and monitoring which all form part of...

Online gambling in South Africa may be set for tough times ahead. For users, tech entrepreneurs and established businesses alike, new laws may change the way gambling in the wealthiest African emerging market takes place.
The National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008, which is said to make provisions for the licensing of online casinos, may only come into force after an appeal to a high court ruling against “interactive gambling” is heard, according to journalist Jan Vermulen. Even services hosted outside the country would be rendered illegal if the proposed legislation comes into effect.
The South African Department of Trade...

Google has chosen Cape Town as a pilot for a new technology incubator called Umbono which aims to bring together seed capital, Google mentorship, angel investors, local tech stars, entrepreneurs and business leaders.
If successful in Cape Town, Google may take the model to other parts of the globe. Google says it chose Cape Town because the city is in "the process of positioning itself as a hub for innovation and technology". The search engine expects that successful funders will move to Cape Town and work "onsite" to take advantage of the opportunity.
The search monolith says the incubator is "in...

Raising funds in emerging markets may not be a walk in the park, but the process has become easier. Though some have complained the current economic environment is not favourable to startups, the current mindset is favourable to good ideas - no matter where they are. For startups with global vision based in emerging markets, here are eight sources of capital to consider.
Venture Partners
The US-based Venture Partners (USVP) has helped build great companies in the last three decades. Since its inception in 1981, USVP has invested more than US$2.7-billion in about 450 companies. After the investment the company’s...

South Africa's group buying market adds another contestant with the launch of Zappon.co.za, just two and a half months after project initiation. The startup, owned by South African media company Avusa Media, joins many other Groupon like deals sites in the country. The only difference is it comes into to the game with the backing of Avusa's brands.
“The daily deal space is on the cusp of maturing in South Africa,” says Zappon creator and General Manager of Avusa Media LIVE, Elan Lohmann. “Other players - both local and international entrants - have been working to create the...

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble," chanted the witches of Shakespeare's Macbeth, cooking up trouble. Similarly, are the VCs of Silicon Valley cooking up trouble by helping to fuel a new bubble?
Valuations for venture backed companies are certainly higher than they've been in a long time but are we in a bubble?
The answer seems to be no. At least, not yet.
I spoke with veteran VC Bill Davidow: "When I look at companies such as Facebook, Zynga etc, I see high valuations but at least these companies have business models with proven revenues. Whether they...

Formsly - Cape Town based, Silicon Cape start-up is adamant it is meeting the needs for a global market with its offering at www.formsly.com. Falling into the online tools and web-apps category of the tech industry, the startup is targeting individuals and small businesses.
Formsly describes itself as a web app which allows users to create custom, feature-rich 'contact' pages for websites. Its features includes google maps, GPS, turn-by-turn navigation, social media links and integration, live support integration, as well as custom mailing lists and analytics. Formsly is available as a basic free service or a premium, paid...

These days it's difficult to go anywhere without hearing about startups and their apps. That's natural in my job but when you start hearing "normal" people talking about apps all of a sudden then that's an interesting trend to watch.
Some say it is a result of the movie based on Facebook's beginning, The Social Network.
This is an interesting trend to watch because it is not limited to San Francisco and its Silicon Valley neighbourhood. You see a big interest in startups and innovation occurring in many countries.
London, for example, has its Silicon Roundabout, an area of London marked by...

By far the biggest contender to the online revenue stream for advertising would be the Pay-per-click model, largely dominated by Google's famed contextual advertising network: AdSense. Companies love it because it is a risk-free way of advertising, but many traditional online publishers are weary because it generally pulls in significantly less revenue than traditional advertising. But one thing for sure: It has revolutionised the online, and even the offline, advertising model for good.
So if you were considering a business in this sphere, you would be crazy to compete with the mighty Google. Right? Not so for one ambitious startup....